Quote Originally Posted by Absimiliard View Post
So the overarching message of Endwalker says. But what if the Ancients hadn't been eradicated? What if, instead of committing omnicide with very little deliberation, Venat gave them a fair chance? Their reactions to the calamity that befell them were perfectly reasonable. Trauma tends to make one behave irrationally for a time. Those memories would've stuck with them even after Zodiark healed the world -- even after those sacrificed to save everything were brought back. They were never given a chance. To think such an enlightened race would be incapable of learning from those awful experiences seems... shortsighted, to put it bluntly. It wasn't just Hermes' test that was rigged; Venat's was as well.

They're both massive hypocrites. But then, so is nearly every other major character in the story. The WoL is quite a hypocrite themselves.
Venat gave them a chance. We see that during the cutscene at the end of Elpis. The ancients were going to sacrifice not only over half of their population, but future souls to be born so they could have their "perfect paradise" again. She didn't act the second they summoned Zodiark. She didn't act when they sacrificed another 50% to get the planed to be fertile again. She acter when they decided to forsake the future to restore their past. But they never ever acknowledged that their past was already broken before Meteion.